Scariest Game Level Ever?

[theklng]

it's a tie between lab x18 from stalker: shadows of chernobyl and the cradle from thief 3. condemned is water compared to these (i sat through the whole of condemned just waiting to get scared, and nothing happened). these are not just scary, it's genuine, deeply seeded terror.

i remember not being able to play both when it got dark simply because it got too scary. it's definitely of the class that can give you nightmares.

oh and another contender would be in bioshock in fort frolic. it's sort of like a secret room beneath the shopping mall filled with water in knee height. there are some items at the end of the room, behind some obstacles. when you then go to exit, suddenly you see statues near the entrance. you destroy them, but they keep coming back. it's creepy as fuck.

and the entire of penumbra: black plague. it's not just that it's in the arctic in a base completely desolate of regular people, you also have no weapons and there is something looming in the shadows, constantly trying to grab at you... but you never find out what it is.

 

[the protaginist]

Bricks were shat in Condemmed 2 when you enter a room with a metal man, and the door you JUST came in is filled with tons of said metal men.

i was unable to play the game for 3 days after that, which is weird, because I was able to get through the game up till that point with little to no frights.

 

[chromewarriorXIII]

I hated that part in Half-Life 2: Episode 1 where you are waiting for the elevator to bring you to the surface. It's pitch black and the flares and your flashlight don't last long enough. I remember running around in circles seeing quick glimpses of zombies jumping past me. It was more tense than scary but still.

 

[BlueMage]

Hmmm...

Toss up between Shalebridge Cradle and The Cathedral. There weren't really any scary ones in Thief 2...

 

[BlueMage]

I must really be getting old, can't believe no one has mentioned System Shock yet. Easily the scariest game of its day, although Thief with it's ultra creepy sounding zombies came pretty close.

Scariest level has to be the hydroponics lab where you first meet the 'midwife' cyborgs but even the vanilla 'grunts' are scary at first. "Your flesh will welcome us..."

Run ... RUN!!!

 

[LornMind]

Condemned 1's Department Store level scared the crap out of me. So did the sewers. Oh God, the sewers. But when I played the demo for Condemned 2, I just felt like a badass. I jumped when shit I couldn't see hurt me and a little when the weird goo things attacked me the first time, but then I heard Yahztee's voice in my head saying, "A series of entertaining bum fights" and all of the tension was replaced with hilarious awesome.

 

[theklng]

Hmmm...

Toss up between Shalebridge Cradle and The Cathedral. There weren't really any scary ones in Thief 2...

i thought the last level in thief 2 was pretty creepy, what with only fighting mechanic enemies. it wasn't terror, it was just gloomy.

 

[Eatbrainz]

'We dont go through ravenholm' and the basement from Half-life 2
Undercity from World of Warcraft isnt really scary but i got a shock when i saw that abominations were the guards

 

[sqwalnoc]

Resident evil 4:
That underground lab with all the regenerators in.. there was barely any ammo around and they kept making thoses noises, even when you couldn't see them.. *shudders*

The first time I fought krauser in that busted up castle, you had no idea whether going round a particular corner would lead to krauser knife-based-insta-rapeTM.

Doom3:
After there's been a constant stream of enemies for ages, suddenly there is nothing. for a small section of the game there are no enemies and no background sound at all, just loads of bodies and broken stuff. the tension was palpable.

Stalker:
That abandoned village full of invisible mutants that a dude asks you to clear. my heart was pounding pretty much the whole time, walking super slow and looking around for that telltale shimmering that they appear as. most of the time though they'd completely take me by surprise and I'd be running backwards shouting "OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT" while emptying my rifle.

 

[AceDefective]

Ravenholm is not scary just overrated (the gravity gun was fun for about 5 minutes)
The sorrow from MGS3 was creepy at first but was not scary
Resy 4's village opening was suspenceful (held up on roof with shotgun) but not scary
I would have to say ALL of Silent Hill one when i was about 7

 

[Andy_Panthro]

For me, it's gotta be the original Alone in the Dark. The music, the creaking sound effects, the H.P. Lovecraft vibe, scared the hell outta me when I was younger. (not to mention the insane camera angles and low poly evil dudes!)

I'll also second Alien vs. Predator, and to a lesser extent AvP2.

I'd also add that System Shock was pretty creepy.

 

[Silva]

Anything involving Mr. Chainsaw and Resident Evil 4.
Particularly the big one that hangs around on mercenaries.

Hah, I killed him with the knife once. That took the edge off. In both ways. Zing!

Honestly, scary levels are harder to think of than scary moments. But perhaps level where you fight with the shark in Resident Evil 1 Remake, that whole room is you sloshing through water, and if you don't keep moving it's instant shark death a la GTAIII. Even if you ARE moving it might still happen. It's much worse if, as in my case, you didn't see any save rooms before hand. I think there's a big gap in saves before that boss, actually. If you forgot the key to the next room... you're not going to make it.

Ravenholm wasn't that scary to me, either. It was more a concern that I might die and have to reload (which takes ages on my poor old clunking PC) than horror that touched me in that level.

 

[daribian]

i gotta say eternal darkness is pretty scary but it really depends on how many times you have played the game F.E.A.R 2 shit scary but not now.

 

[Saul B]

All of bioshock :s
Probably because i played it in the dark

Or farts of FEAR 2

 

[Archaon6044]

The Cradle from Thief: The Dark Project.
that orphanage was fucking creepy as hell! i had nightmares for a week after that place

 

[Vrex360]

The introduction of the flood in Halo 1. It used all the classin sci fi horror setups like the blood stained walls, the wierd noise and finally the video log at the end.

 

[Stikibunn]

I was crappin' myself in the Well/Shadow Temple in my first playthrough of Ocarina of Time.... but then again I was 10

 

[Blow_Pop]

Use the search bar.

Also I don't get why so many people say Ravenholm was scary. Yeah it a little creepy, but not scary.

Im new be nice to me.

good luck on that.

i haven't gotten scary yet. creepy and slightly startled yes but not scary yet.